I recently had my home appraised at $241,000.  It is only one year
old, and is 3500 square feet (1750 sf finished) in Pleasant Grove,
Utah.  I feel this is a little low, and should have come in at around
$250,000.  I am afraid that things like being in a culdesac, having a
West facing home, and some other features for which I paid a premium,
are not factored into the appraised value, and that only the
comparable homes in my area were used to derive the value.  Another
challenge is that since all the homes in my development are all new,
are of higher quality than the surrounding area, and were sold through
a builder and not listed on the MLS through a realtor, that my home
value does not accurately reflect the value of homes in my newer
subdivision since none of them were listed int he MLS.  My lender is
telling me to get my own comparables from the MLS if I would like to
add additional information to the appraisal they have, which they can
review, but I will have the same problem using the MLS.  What is the
best way to make sure that my appraisal is accurate?

In the world of real estate, where no two properties are exactly the
same, an appraisal is just an estimate of market value.  Market value
is whatever a buyer would be willing and able to pay for your home. 
Being just a "rough estimate", I don't think an appraisal of 241K is
statistically significantly different from 250K.  It's a difference of
only 3.6% in a field where +/- 5% is not too meaningful.

Although 3.6% may seem insignificant it represents an additional
$9,000 that can be made available to me for my 2nd mortgaeg home
equity line of credit.  This is needed in order for me to do some
additional home improvments, which I will not be able to do if the
estimate comes in at $241,000.  I would like to know what things
normally factor into an appraisal, so that I can evaluate and debate
the appraised amount.  If for instance square footage is the only
thing used, than I can dispute the fact that an estimate based on
square footage alone leaves out things like the 3rd car garage,
landscaping, location in a cludesac, upgraded interior lighting,
hardwood floors, etc...

Thanks

Adam

There is no way anyone other than your appraiser can answer what
factors he used in determining his price.  Some appraisers may just
get comps off line and others may do a full inspection of the interior
and lot.

If you don't like what one appraiser you can always hire another one. 
You can casually mention that you are expecting his result to be $250K
which might sway his estimate if he is near that # anyway.

OK, you have given me tha best answer I think I can get on this. 
Thanks for your time